THOUSANDS of car enthusiasts came to feast their eyes on an impressive display of vintage motors that rolled into town for the 20th annual Classics on the Common.

Drivers from far and wide brought their pride and joy to Harpenden on Wednesday to take part in what is believed to be Britain’s largest midweek car meeting.

Spectators spent hours admiring more than 1,000 classic four-wheeled vehicles, including a 1927 Trojan and a rare 1978 Mantra Bagheera, as well as around 250 motorcycles and scooters.

This year the event, organised by Harpenden Village Rotary Club, was raising money for Herts Air Ambulance, the local Samaritans branch, Keech Children’s Hospice and WaterAid.

Among the visitors was Stephanie Beagley of Goldsmith Way, St Albans, who went along with her grandad and his MG TF 1954 model that he has owned for 13 years.

The 21-year-old said: “This year we went down together and made a day of it. It was lovely to see people come up to the car and they knew all about it already. It was so busy and the car got quite a lot of attention.

“We had a nice spot and we got our chairs out. My grandad loved socialising and showing his car off.”

Classics on the Common was the brainchild of Harpenden resident and Metropolitan Police officer Peter Madden after he bought a 1968 Rover P5B coupe. In the first year it attracted 125 cars, and since then has grown steadily in popularity with owners and spectators.

By June there had been so much interest in this year’s event the organisers had to close registration six weeks early as they reached the maximum number of vehicles permitted.

Event manager Richard Bellingham said one family had even travelled all the way from Germany to attend Wednesday’s gathering. He also commented he was optimistic they would be able to match the £19,000 that was raised last year adding: “We always have a good atmosphere and everybody had certainly come out to enjoy themselves.”